Jill, I really hope I can end up doing as well as you or better! Even though I feel like I have a better udnerstanding of the mechanics of why nothing wants to go down right now, and I certainly have a willingness to do whatever I need to to help make it better, much of this is still a mystery to me--why someone like you with a total glossectomy can swallow better than I can for example! Although part of that may be the degree of lyphedema I guess. I know that can vary enormously when women have breast cancer surgery to remove nodes under their arm and I don't think i realized how it could effect swallowing(because it's mostly affecting my tongue where I can't see it--although it also explains why my upper tongue sometimes feels larger than it once was and rubs against my teeth and gets irritated).

I do try to stay optimistic about improvement because I do agree psychology has to be part of it. How long has it been since you had radiation, Jill? Did you have chemo too?


SCC(T2N0M0) part.glossectomy & neck dissect 2/9/05 & 2/25/05.33 IMRT(66 Gy),2 Cisplatin ended 06/03/05.Stage I breast cancer treated 2/05-11/05.Surgery to remove esophageal stricture 07/06, still having dilatations to keep esophagus open.Dysphagia. "When you're going through hell, keep going"